"Truly, it is the indescribable sweetness of contemplation which you give to those who love you. In this you have shown the tenderness of your charity, that when I had no being you made me; and when I strayed away from you, you brought me back again to serve you and commanded me to love you." The Imitation of Christ

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Sat Nav...

I had to go to Woldingham again on Tuesday (I'd been talked into helping out at the Southwark Diocese Altar Servers' Break ("Summertime") so, as I knew the route pretty well, I decided to try it out.

The sat-nav program is called "Co-pilot." I had a few problems setting it up, but that might be because I couldn't seem to get a fix on my starting location... something about the construction of my block of flats appears to interfere with the GPS signal. Maybe I'm just being blonde.

Anyway, once I was outside the flat, sitting in my car, the phone managed to locate me. I was directed to the A2, though it wasn't the route I usually take... and I discovered that I really have no idea of distance. I mean, what is 500 yards? "In 500 yards, turn left" proved to be a little difficult to interpret... luckily, I spotted that the road I had assumed to be 500 yards ahead was actually a cul-de-sac, so I guessed that it wasn't my proposed route!

Once I'd gotten over the distance issue (if I use this more regularly, I might actually learn what 500 yards is!!) it seemed to go swimmingly. I was directed to the A2, and then to the M25... and that was fine... I even got a warning to "bear left" when the M25 split off from the A21.

My faith in the program began to wane when, as I approached the roundabout on Junction 6, I was told to take the first exit. Now, I had had problems inputting my destination, because Woldingham School's postcode covers a wide area, and I couldn't pin it down (not having the exact address to hand), so it is possible that the sat-nav was directing me in a round-about way to the main centre of the postal code. All I knew was that the first exit at that roundabout is the A22 heading towards Eastbourne... and the route to Woldingham I usually take goes towards London... the third (or possibly fourth) exit.

I decided that I didn't actually have time to explore where the sat-nav was heading, and so ignored it. Amusingly, as I drove down the dual carriageway towards London, I was told to turn around... and then the sat-nav gave up, and re-calculated its route... However, as I turned in towards the school drive, I entered the Communications Bermuda Triangle, and the sat-nav died, as did my phone signal.

Because I couldn't enter my start location at Woldingham, I didn't bother switching on the sat-nav for my route home.

...I am curious as to where I'd have ended up if I had followed instructions though...

*To be honest, I suspect my phone could make the tea if I had the right attachment...

Cara - I don't have a copy of the Argos catalogue. I checked online, and I can't see anything which would cause such outrage among the children's dressing up costumes - so what, exactly, is the problem?

You really should see this in the catalogue itself though - the priest and nun models are among about 2 dozen ridiculous comic book type characters - the mockery of our faith is disgraceful. This is the worst insult I have ever seen levelled at Catholics (probably on about the same level as Popetown).

According to them, the Argos catalogue is held in about 1/3 of homes in the UK.

Cara, I googled out of curiosity ..... and it looked like fairly standard dress.... If one were putting on a theatrical production and had little money to build their own costumes, these wouldn't be unreasonable alternatives....

Year For Priests

About Me

I was about to describe myself as a young Catholic woman, but alas, that is no longer strictly true (two out of three isn't bad)!
I came back to the Church 22 years ago after what I consider to be a Damascus Road conversion, and
I'm fairly traditional in my outlook.
I am a single woman living and working in the world (as a Science teacher), and I took private vows in December 2002.